The U.S. Army currently fields a general purpose vehicle known as the HMMWV having wheel-and-tire assemblies that weigh in excess of 100 pounds. For some applications of the vehicle, it is intended that a spare assembly will be carried on the exterior of the vehicle on a sloped hatchback panel at the rear of the vehicle. The location where the assembly attaches is above shoulder height for a majority of soldiers, and the assembly will therefore be difficult to mount and demount from the vehicle, especially in view of the assembly's weight.
We have devised a load platform translatable along rails on the hatchback area of the vehicle and tiltable on the vehicle. The platform has a first, nearly vertical position below the shoulder height of soldiers where the assembly can relatively easily be attached to the platform. The platform will easily tilt to a position parallel to the hatchback panel and can then be pushed upward on the panel to a third, carrying position, whereupon the platform is locked in place. Rotatable relative to the axle and mounted thereto is a manually releasable locking mechanism for fixing the axle in a given position along the rails.
We believe that our invention can be used on other military vehicles besides the HMMWV, such as tanks and armored personnel carriers. In addition, we believe our invention is adaptable for use on large or small trucks, or on utility vehicles.